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Giovanni
Vindicator |world =Ashan |relatives =Lucretia - sister |introduced =Heroes of Might and Magic V |appearances = }} Lord Giovanni was a minor count in the Holy Falcon Empire of Ashan, an Vampire Necromancer, and the first mentor of the fallen Knight Ornella. He appears in the expansion packs of Heroes of Might and Magic V, Hammers of Fate and Tribes of the East. Biography Early days Giovanni and his sister Lucretia were lower administrators in the Bull Duchy, a region in the southeast of the Holy Falcon Empire. Though they were both clever and very skilled in playing political games, they were simply too far removed from the ruling line of the Duchy to ever gain any truly important position. Unsatisfied with this fate, they ended up searching power in a different way. Shortly after Lucretia was seduced to the ideals of Necromancy by Sandro, Giovanni also decided to become a servant of the spider goddess Asha, and in the ensuing centuries became a powerful Necromancer, though he objected at the thought of Lucretia siding with the undead. Though he emigrated to Heresh after his conversion, Giovanni always remained close to the soil where he was born, probably being too much of a politician to abandon humanity completely. He gained control of the Vale of Sorrow in the northwest of his country, close to the Bull Duchy. He has set up a complicated network of contacts which allowed him to achieve his secret goals. Centuries past, the Falcon Empire was replaced by the Holy Griffin Empire, but Giovanni was always there behind the scenes. The Union Giovanni, living in relative peace with his Human neighbors, felt no need to join Markal when he took control of the Griffin Empire and attacked the Silver Cities. In their hunger for revenge some Wizards refused to notice this difference, though. When they drove out the Necromancers, they attempted to grant Giovanni his final death despite the fact he had done nothing wrong. Realizing that his untrained Skeletons would be no match for his enemies, Giovanni asked one of his contacts for help: a high-ranked member of the Bull Duchy named Lady Ornella, who had been Giovanni's friend and ally for some time. In return, Giovanni promised to teach her some interesting secrets about death. Ornella accepted this deal and a combined army of Humans and Undead defeated the bloodthirsty spellcasters. However, Ornella's deed was considered as treason by her empire and she was exiled. Giovanni kept his promise and took Ornella as his acolyte. As such, the political talents of the clever Vampire had once again turned the situation in his favour. Arantir and the end Not long after Queen Isabel's War, Necrolord Arantir appeared and began his quest to unite Heresh under his rule. Giovanni did not want to give up his autonomy, but he once again realized he could not defeat his enemy with his raw strength alone. Without mercy Giovanni used Ornella to kill another contact, his old friend Lord Malfroy, and to take control of the important city Iluma-Nadin. He also made his acolyte discover the secrets around the that had appeared recently. With these gifts he gained both Arantir's trust and a proper excuse to ask the mighty scholar to transform Ornella into a Necromancer himself. When Arantir was preforming the ritual Giovanni tried to backstab the High-Lord, but he failed and was killed himself instead. In his last moments he swore he would destroy Arantir in the next life. Arantir thankfully used Giovanni's network of cities and forces in his war against the demon Orlando. Ornella used the skills Giovanni taught her to loyally serve her new master. Gallery File:GiovanniLargePortrait.jpg|A high-res version of Giovanni's portrait as painted by Adrian Smith Appearances Giovanni appears in Heroes of Might and Magic V add-ons, Hammers of Fate and Tribes of the East, as weelin in Might & Magic: Heroes VI add-on, Danse Macabre. Category:Hammers of Fate characters Category:Tribes of the East characters